Biography
Max Chipulu joined Napier as research professor of operations and analytics in The Business School in September 2021. Previously, he was associate professor of business analytics and head of teaching of the department of decision, analytics and risk at the University of Southampton, and thematic cluster pathway coordinator for the ESRC South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership. He had earlier served as a senior lecturer in operational research at the University of Hertfordshire.
Max had worked in industry before academia: First as a mechanical engineer in the mining industry and then, briefly, as an account manager in corporate banking.
Max earned an ESRC-funded PhD in Management Sciences and Statistics, an MSc in Management Sciences and a BEng in Mechanical Engineering, all from the University of Southampton, United Kingdom.
Max studies the management of operations, particularly projects, in complex and/or uncertain environments through the lens of data analytics, particularly predictive modelling, text and content analytics. He also researches how culture influences organisations, ethicality and sustainability; the pedagogy of quantitative courses within business schools, whereby, his most recent interest, is the effective application of learning analytics in the teaching and learning of business subjects.
He has published articles in peer reviewed international journals including, among others, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Journal of Business Ethics, International Journal of Forecasting, Production Planning & Control, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, International Review of Financial Analysis, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, the International Journal of Project Management, and Project Management Journal. He also regularly presents at international conferences, and has contributed to research books and reports.
Max contributes regularly and consistently to the peer review process. He is a member of the British Academy of Management Peer Review College and co-chair of the Operations Logistics and Supply Chain Management SIG at British Academy of Management conference; and has guest-edited special issues in several journals. He is a regular ad hoc reviewer for a range of international journals and conferences, including CABS 3/4*, e.g., International Journal of Operations and Production Management, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, and Production Planning and Control.
Max regards teaching, learning and the student experience extremely importantly. Recognised as a senior fellow of Advance HE, Max was a two-time nominee of the Vice Chancellor’s Award in the Teaching Innovation category at Southampton (2017 and 2021), and a winner of the Advance HE Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE, 2018).